The Forsaken
by jesssdfisher
Summary: This is the first part of a series of short stories I am writing about the Forsaken in World of Warcraft. This story takes place in Vanilla WoW just after the Forsaken joined the Horde. I intend on writing another part every week so this should be fun.
1. Chapter 1

The cries of the elf test subject as it was injected with another experimental concoction brought Dredge back to focus. He looked up from his lonesome post by the lab door to see the subject, a blonde haired high elf girl, writhing in pain on the ground as the experimental fluids began making their way through her system. "Is this one going to die this time?" He asked aloud to the mage-scientist, Shia Plagueborn, as she jotted down notes of the subjects reactions.

"Oh, I do hope not." The tall forsaken elf spoke from underneath her masks as she knelt down to more closely examine the subject who was now foaming at the mouth and twitching aggressively. "These types of subjects do not come cheap you know."

Dredge knew by type she meant high elves, as she had been doing increased study on them as of late. "I'd imagine you would show more kindness to your former kin than to use the last of their species as experiments." Dredge said joining Shia in observing the subject's now outright convulsions on the ground. "This did not happen to the last one. What did you change?"

"Barely anything actually, just less of the arcane crystals than the previous subject, and it seems we've found a more stable serum from using moon well water than just regular water. Look, she's not even bleeding out her eyes yet!" The mage exclaimed in an excited tone as she hurriedly jotted down notes on a pad. The subject cried out then as the serum seemed to take itself into the next stage causing the girls limbs to shake violently and her hands to clench and unclench uncontrollably as she flailed about on the ground. "Most interesting," Shia said looking to Dredge and reading the boredom on his otherwise expressionless features. "This could lead to a breakthrough in our studies and make us the top team in the Society, so could you try and at least look a little enthusiastic about our work."

Dredge gave a slight smile of his wiry cracked lips and looked at Shia. "Does becoming the most prominent team come with more or less action?"

"So much more field work. If we become top team and this experiment goes how we want then you'll not run out of things to do for a very long time." She replied just as the subject let out another blood curdling (if either Shia or Dredge had blood) scream, balled into the fetal position, and began sobbing loudly and pleading noisily for mercy. "Sorry dear," Shia replied to the elf girls pleas in the high elven tongue, "No can do. I've got more tests to run and no time to spare." Shia laughed aloud at the subject's whimpers and began preparing the next serum.

Dredge shook his head and went back to his post by the door. "I could get used to near endless 'field work'." He spoke aloud as he picked up the long sword sitting by his station and began weighing it in his hands. He took a stab forward with thinking back to his last raid on a human encampment where he struck down a mage just as she completed a spell, causing the fallen arcanist's incantation to fling into his comrades, sizzling their skin like well-cooked meat in an inferno of flames. "Very used to it indeed."

"Well that's only if this whole operation isn't a bust and this crystal causes the desired effect. If it doesn't then we'll be back to the drawing board and still near the bottom half of the societies research teams." The mage said with a sigh looking to Dredge. "Don't swing that in here."

"What about the Plague Blood team?" He said sitting the sword back beside the wall. "Is their disease ready for field testing or was that a flop too?"

Shia cackled loudly which only brought a scared whimper from the subject in the cage. "They can't reproduce their immediate results because they lost the only sample of the mushroom they were using in the base. So their plague will never work!" She smiled through her masked hood at Dredge who only returned the look with his normal expressionless self, though she knew he was interested or he would not have asked. "We have a lot more time to develop our own work before they get near enough funds to mount a second expedition to recover a replacement sample," she stated as she grabbed the subject's leg and injected her with another experimental fluid.

Dredge watched as the subject convulsed for a moment and then went into a fit of lurching up and down from a lying to sitting position repeatedly. He raised his eye and looked at Shia, "What was in this one?"

"That would be the missing mushroom our enemies need for their plauge." She replied coolly, crossing her arms and simply watching as the subject fell on her back at last and vomited a torrent of blood into the air.

Dredge cracked a smile and looked from the now obviously dead subject to Shia. "That was all of it wasn't it?" Which was only answered with a nod as the mage called for one of the slave-servant humans they kept in the lab to come and clean the cage and prepare it for the next subject, she then exited down into the basement alchemy lab mumbling to herself about what needed improved in the next testing. Dredge had little interest in watching the frail human slave work and, as he began fooling with the sword again, there was a knock at the lab's door. "What's the password?" Dredge shouted holding the sword at the ready.

"We don't have a password," came the retort to which Dredge opened the door to see Isa Plaugeborn, Shia's sister in life and the team's main connection to the outside world.

"You look well," Dredge said as he sat the sword back beside the wall once more.

"You look dead." She replied bitingly as she walked into the lab and removing her cowl and face covering with her left hand before adjusting the blade that served as her right appendage.

"That's what I meant."

Isa shook her head and looked to the cage where the human slave was dragging the corpse to the pit where they stored all the former test subjects. "I see we'll have to go on another raid soon to acquire more work for my dearest sister."

"Yes, as always, she shows little restraint in pushing her subjects to their limits." He said with a laugh but in truth he was glad that at least hunting more elves meant leaving this little lab in the Under City.

"Psh, mages," Isa spat looking over the remaining syringes. Dredge knew that more than anyone in the world Isa despised it was mages, and her sister worst of all. It was only the lack of anyone else they could trust that acted as the binding to their relationship and Dredge knew well enough to not question it. "Where are Justin and Harold?"

"Gone to Silverpine to search for more ingredients no doubt," he said though he honestly had no idea where the two had gone.

"The humans will get them if they don't stop going out there alone." Isa warned though she only seemed to be stating fact rather than actually voicing concern.

Dredge only shrugged and went back to zoning out at his post. He really did not care to engage the hot tempered elf girl right now and she seemed just as content with his silence as she went through her sister's notes mumbling to herself in an annoyed tone. When Shia returned from below minutes later, she carried with her a whole array potions and liquids that she began mixing into syringes immediately without word to either Isa or Dredge.

"The Society is asking about your progress again sister," Isa said after a few annoyed minutes of no recognition. "They say that they can't keep supplying you with the funds to enslave more elves if it doesn't yield results in the next few weeks."

Shia only shrugged and looked to the two of them. "Well then you better get to getting me more elves then."

"We got you an entire caravan of them two weeks ago!" Isa said standing up from the desk.

"And now they are all dead, save one."

"How can you kill that many elves so shortly?" Isa shouted, looking as though she may pounce on her sister at any moment.

"Because I am being hurried to get results on a delicate process. If I had more time I could afford to let subjects recover more between tests but that isn't possible. Is it?"

Isa growled and looked to Dredge. "Fine. If she wants it that way then come Dredge, let's go get my dear sister some more subjects."

Oh boy, thought Dredge but he dare not speak it. He simply grabbed his sword and followed Isa's lead as they exited the lab into the Under City.


	2. Chapter 2

The tunnel was dead silent as the two forsaken, Justin Deadskin and Harold Life-Hatred, hid inside an alcove overlooking the entrance of the room. They had been pursued by a small group of humans wielding powerful divine magic for over few hours now and as they found themselves faced with a dead end they were left with little choice other than to either fight or be destroyed. "Oh, we are so dead." Harold said after a few minutes of waiting on their pursuers.

"Shut up." Justin sneered as he rechecked his engineer's pouch and took account all the ammunition he had stored.

"Don't tell me to shut up in my last moments of life." Harold whined just as the sound of footsteps resounded throughout the tunnel walls.

Two paladins entered the room first passing by the alcove where the two undead hid and stopping a little ahead just out of sight. From the quick glance, Justin could tell they were fairly strong judging from how easily they lifted the heavy mauls that they wielded as weapons and by the aura of bright light that shone off them at all times. They were then quickly followed in by two smaller and less armored warriors wielding broadswords and shields, but they too seemed to have some sort of light spell cast upon them as they lit up the tunnels as they moved.

Always with the light, Justin angrily mused to himself, shining like bright torches that seemed to radiate nothing but their pretentions. Just the same he readied his first shot and looked back to the not-so-eager Harold and dashed out from hiding.

"Vile minions of the Scourge! Today you fa-gack!" Screamed one of the paladins as Justin unleashed a torrent of electricity in a wide cone from his Electrical Blunderbuss. The sparks flew striking both walls and everything in-between, which would have been awesome had Justin been shooting at someone other than shadow-damned paladins. A magical shield suddenly sprang over the group resonating from one of the light wielder just as the electrical charge burst from the gun causing absolutely zero damage. Justin cursed aloud and drew his short sword as the shot finished down to a small fizzle.

"As I was saying Scourge," started the same paladin as he stood straight and brushed off his tabard depicting a red flame, "today you face the awesome power of- uck." He said as a crossbow bolt flew from the alcove where Harold still hid and struck the paladin in the side of the throat. The other paladin quickly turned and fired a burst of holy energy at his struck partner healing his wound just as it was made. "Get them!" The struck paladin ordered deciding not to give the Forsaken his usual speech.

"Run for your life!" Harold screamed in response, rushing past Justin while still toting the large bag of ingredients they had harvested that day. Justin looked between his fleeing comrade and the two angry paladins and threw the short sword at the closest human and followed suit, fleeing as fast as his undead legs could take him.

"I swear Harold if we live I'm killing you."

"Can't I'm already dead." Harold laughed manically.

"You are so stupid!" Justin shouted angrily just as a ray of light barely missed his head. He knew that his chance at fleeing was over as another ray was likely to strike him. "Yeah, you run you bastard!" Justin shouted back towards Harold as he disappeared into the darkness ahead leaving Justin alone to deal with their pursuers. He readied his gun and wheeled about. The four pursuers stopped as they faced the forsaken holding the blunderbuss in their direction and all took defensive stances, except one of the non-paladins who approached the undead with a wide grin. "You already fired your gun! There's no way you had time to reload it," he said raising his sword poised to strike Justin down. But instead, he found himself on the receiving end of the full force of the forsaken's electrical gun. The warrior went flying back convulsing as the electricity coursed through his body. One of the paladins threw up his magical shield on the man, but the bulk of the damage had already been done.

"It recharges you moron," Justin mocked speaking in the human tongue before darting off again leaving the humans behind to try and save their now sporadically jerking comrade. In truth the gun didn't recharge, instead each battery had enough power to fire twice, but they didn't need to know that.

Justin ran on, but it quickly became apparent that the perusing paladins had not relented as the light from their radiant armors still shone brightly behind him. He needed a new plan, and fast, but things were starting to seem hopeless. Why were these humans here? Don't they have enough things to do other than hunt two mostly innocent forsaken who were just collecting supplies? He pondered this as he came to one of the caves many cross ways and suddenly realized he had no idea where in the tunnels he currently was. He went right on impulse and found himself tripping down a steep descent twenty feet into a shallow underground stream.

Justin quickly stood checking his gear and inwardly sighed with relief as neither his gun nor its charges had gotten wet in the fall. The paladins both stood at the edge of the drop looking down into the stream him, obviously perturbed at the thought of following the forsaken with the electrical gun into the water. "Yeah, you two stay up there." Justin said quietly to himself quickly trudging through the shin high waters out of the paladin's views. It must be my lucky day, Justin mused to himself just as he realized that Harold was the one with the lantern. "Or not." He said, but he continued on anyway as he'd rather chance falling off into some chasm than to face the light wielders for another minute.

As he walked, he found himself following the stream upwards and he pondered the fate of his companion. If he'd gotten caught after making it a point to leave me behind then it's his fault that he dies, he considered before shaking his head. Justin found after deeper thought that he didn't actually want anything to happen to Harold. Perhaps because the mouthy sharpshooter had grown on him after all their adventures together, or maybe it was because he didn't want to have to become accustomed to yet another new partner within the already barely-functioning Crystal team. Yeah, that's the reason; he decided not wanting to have to admit even to himself that he liked the loud mouthed coward. Though when he considered it, he did like Harold better than the rest of the dolts he found himself working with in unlife. Isa was too full of hate for any good to come of her and her sister, Shia, was too far gone to be helped mentally. Dredge was… well nothing, Dredge seemed unconcerned with little other than the action that came with the job which didn't really make him a great conversation piece. Yes indeed it seemed he and Harold were the only two capable of any conversation that didn't revolve around killing something and if Harold was dead…well that would suck.

He walked on hugging the tunnel walls and prayed to no god in particular (as if they paid any mind to his kind) that this didn't lead to a dead end when he noticed that a faint light was forming up ahead. He stopped and eyed it with suspicion before asking aloud, "Where the hell am I?" He then remembered to reload his gun and glanced behind him, almost expecting to see Harold there, before cautiously moving forward with an anxious murmur; but as he neared the source he soon found it was the light from night sky and not more fanatical human's which caused him to almost cry out in joy. Almost. This nightmare is finally over, he thought to himself happily, or as close to it as he could be, as he moved more quickly towards the exit eager to be rid of this accursed place once and for all. When I get out I need to find Isa and the rest and we need to go find Harold wherever he's hiding because… because he has supplies that we need and it would be a shame to waste so many rare ingredients. His musings were suddenly interrupted when a bright flash sailed past his face and struck the water beside him shooting hot steam through the tunnel entrance. "Oh damn." He said aloud noticing that the paladins that had pursued him were now flanking the stream on its banks near the tunnel entrance, and to make matters worse they were accompanied by a man in long robes and burning hands.

"Lay down your gun Scourge and I will make your death a quick one," one of the paladins commanded walking towards him, maul at the ready.

"Yeah, no." Justin replied firing off his Blunderbuss in a cone that encompassed both the mage and the approaching Light wielder. The charge erupted catching both of them and, as expected, the paladin threw up his magical shield on himself while the other threw up a shield onto the mage. As the electrical sparks subsided the paladin dropped his shield and smiled cockily.

"Now what are you going to do? Wait for it to recharge?" The paladin taunted before rushing forward, his maul ready to crush the forsaken. But like the cocky warrior before him, he caught the full force of the second charge in the blunderbuss sprawling about on the ground jerking from the electricity.

"Idiot." Justin said making a mad dash past the felled opponent for the forest that surrounded them. He barely rolled out of another fireball's path when he hit the tree line running for his life, again. He had almost gotten completely out of sight when a large lumbering figure smashed him in the side of the head knocking him out with his last sight being two large tusks.

Rin had watched the humans with mostly curiosity up until the point that they had attacked the undead shaman. An undead shaman, who would have thought it? He thought with a chuckle but he did not question the wills of the elements. So when the arcanist began launching fireballs at his fleeing brethren, he did not hesitate to jump into action. Asking the spirits of water for their strength, they answered by forming large water elemental that would keep the paladin and mage busy long enough. Of course Rin had no time to explain who he was to the frightened shaman that was fleeing for his life so a quick jab to the head would have to suffice in giving him a chance to speak with the man.

"Strange staff," the troll said looking at the undead shaman's form as it fell limply to the ground.

"Demon friend of the Scourge," came a shout from the paladin who had apparently left the mage to deal with the elemental. He charged forward, maul in tow, ready to smash the troll.

"Oh ya' shouldnt 'ave followed me." Rin jeered lifting his staff towards the incoming paladin and praying to the spirits of the earth to lend him their strengths. They answered happily by forming a great hand made of earth near the paladin that then grabbed the charging foe and flung him into a nearby tree with the ease as someone would throw a small stone. The paladin barely had time to scream and he hit the tree with such force that Rin could hear something in the tree snap, or maybe that was something in the human. Regardless, the paladin did not move once he landed and Rin went back to the unconscious forsaken.

"Well, it seems we got a new friend," Rin said collecting the shaman's things and then retrieving the limp body. "Hope he likes trolls."

Nearby Harold looked on, his mouth agape. "Oh well he's dead." He said to himself at last but instead of running for his life all the way back to the Undecity he instead found himself following the troll that had his team member hostage. "I guess I'm dead, too." Harold said loading a poisoned bolt into his crossbow.


End file.
